Dark Money is a book describing American Billionaires trying to influence and undermine the U.S Government and American Democracy. This right wing campaign is headed by the Koch Brothers who are determined to set the agenda for a Republican Revolution.

The Koch family background is a story of family embedded in the Nazi War Machine, with a corresponding mentality. In 1960 Koch wrote “The colored man looms large in the Communist plan to take over America.”

The family worked and has paid millions to give power to the conservative right by demanding balance in political debate. This balance was focused on textbooks, television shows and news coverage. The war on Liberals was so effective that Barak Obama just after being elected was asked by a New York Times reporter if he was a socialist.

And in a way why not? Billionaires have money to spend on furthering their companies profits. Government, Taxes, and People are in the way unless they are buying their products. People make demands for public services, accountability and fairness. For the Billionaire businessman this is like having a universal marketing department with limitless funds, and networks with the backup of of other Billionaires and their networks.
Dark Money

Copyright Adrian Scott North London Counsellor Blog 2017 All rights reserved Disclaimer: This weblog is the view of the writer and for general information only This article is designed to provoke argument and critique

‘Life is to plow.’ A reflection on struggle, success and the impermanence of both

‘Just like the bad things, the beautiful things are temporary too.’

Life Plow
Roberto Olivera was raised in poverty in southern California, where he worked the tomato fields alongside his mother and abusive stepfather, migrant workers from Mexico. Now in his 60s, financially successful and with a family of his own, Olivera has grown to understand the meaning behind his mother’s frequent refrain: ‘La vida es sufrir’ (‘Life is suffering’). With an understated melancholy, Field Song pairs Olivera’s poignant reflections with views of southern California’s agricultural landscapes, presenting hardship as both temporary and timeless.
Life Plow.

Copyright Adrian Scott North London Counsellor Blog 2017 All rights reserved Disclaimer: This weblog is the view of the writer and for general information only This article is designed to provoke argument and critique

Stanislav Petrov prevented a nuclear holocaust. Literally. Nuclear Save.
His job was to detect any nuclear attack coming from the US. He had helped install the facility which housed the Soviet Early Warning System named Oko translated as Eye. The bunker situated south of Moscow began a series of warnings that a nuclear weapons strike had been deployed. He was at the controls on the night of September 26th 1983 when it happened.

It was in the Cold War period when a few weeks earlier a Soviet jet had intercepted and shot down by mistake a civilian airliner killing everyone on board. Including a US Congressman and 60 Americans. Ronald Reagan was in charge at the White House. Reagan had issued plans for the European Missile Defense System which Russia saw as a major threat.

So both sides were hyper alert ready for the others next move. Petrov thought the chances of the warning being a genuine nuclear strike were 50/50. He didn’t want to be the person responsible for starting a Third World War. In fact the early warning system had been triggered by the reflection of the sun.
So he didn’t give the advice to his commanders to retaliate.
Nuclear Save

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Disclaimer: This weblog is the view of the writer and for general information only
This article is designed to provoke argument and critique

The Kings Cross Fire 30 years ago yesterday started at Kings Cross Underground station killing 31 people and injuring a 100. A counsellor was provided for the 150 fire fighters who attended the scene, but was not used. Hopefully how times have changed. The awareness of PTSD has risen, and avoidance strategies such as alcoholism and the link to depression is more widely known.

There is an immediate association with Grenfell. The closest link being panelling. Wooden panelling clad the escalators at Kings Cross, helping spread the fire. The cladding in tower blocks has unfortunately become infamous.

30 years ago the free market and globalisation was firmly set in motion, paving the way for the mass inequality the world is suffering today. Both incidents kick started a change: but still the bottom line wins. The cost is looked at before the potential danger to human life.

The people who died at Kings Cross were from all parts of the population. In this way there was little discrimination except that those who died were travelling by tube. In Grenfell it was more a reflection of our time of inequality. A tower block situated in one of the most expensive boroughs in the country, housing people living in poverty.

Both fires reflect on the bottom line. London underground was used to fires on the tube being common place so had become complacent. Government cuts allowing builders of buildings to be safety advisers at the same time, lowered standards.

The lack of learning and awareness of tragedy being missed or not built upon is common throughout history. Humans create change only when forced to do so. Mass production emphasises the cost of multiples. The cost of a safer cladding panel being £10 more expensive sounds cheap until you order half a million.
Kings Cross Fire

Copyright Adrian Scott North London Counsellor Blog 2017 All rights reserved Disclaimer: This weblog is the view of the writer and for general information only This article is designed to provoke argument and critique

Aunts are cool.
Close but not as dependent as a parent – Aunts can have a kind, gentle & detached view of their nieces and nephews. In many families the sister of your parent is not like your parent. Younger, more spoilt, more funky, more 60’s, more urban. and just plain more fun. The ability to tease their siblings – your parent was so liberating because if you dared to do it yourself – you’d be told off.
But however your own parent reacted to being ribbed: it was a delicious joy to watch, like an illegal, almost criminal act.
And the Aunt got away with it – not caring what the reaction was.

Aunts can be trusted advisers who have different and varying bits of advice to give. You might have to work out that they are sometimes not diplomatic, so you have to be careful what you repeat back home. A stronger bond can be formed when your aunt is a god parent where extra and bigger gifts are in order. Knowing your parent well they can explain what is happening and describe your parent in terms of being a child with their own parents and family struggles. Amazing.

At school events Aunts would be an added extra: it was usual for parents to be there.
But Aunts had to make an effort – to travel distances to make the event even more special.

Aunts have lessons to tell through books which are the first books you read.
You are open to these first books. The writing, the drawings, the shapes and colours. Lying dormant the book memories are deep down ready to be triggered into open moments of joy and remembering. Billie 1934-2017

Copyright Adrian Scott North London Counsellor Blog 2017 All rights reserved Disclaimer: This weblog is the view of the writer and for general information only This article is designed to provoke argument and critique

Hilary Clinton described her husband as a “hard dog to keep on the porch”. The Presidency has an easily abused allure. Like Freud’s Vienna sexual abuse was rife: because there were vulnerable live in female servants with no recourse to justice. The Westminster Village with its bars, late night working and vulnerable interns is similar. Add a certain type of male politician – risk taking Adrenalin seeking and unaccountable. Sexual harassment and abuse is inevitable.

A TV host reprimanded a group of men, about trying to minimise low level harassment. And they still didn’t get it. The sarcastic response made by a male panel member:- “No, and as you point out with four blokes sitting around you we’re hardly in a position to say, ‘That’s rubbish’.”

Yet there is also a strong group of women who don’t understand what all the fuss is about. The journalist who “innocently” related a knee touching incident, has ended a ministerial career. The “victim” referred to the latest parliamentary abuse investigations as a witch hunt.

Again the micro fails to become macro. The individual incident is minimised and not understood to be about thousands of little incidents built up to become a culture. Is this a defense? Being so afraid of the self and feelings that nothing can be thought about? Relationships with men and women that are not satisfactory. Relationships between parents being one sided and abusive of power? Brothers and sisters given unequal opportunities which is handed down the generations?

Not having awareness or empathy for another. Not to see that what is allowed – is sanctioned by an invisible infrastructure empowered by inequality, and being able to get away with it.
Hard Dog

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Disclaimer: This weblog is the view of the writer and for general information only
This article is designed to provoke argument and critique

Katie Lee spent her life fighting for her beloved canyon flooded out by the Glen Canyon Damn. She fought tirelessly to have the dam removed and the Colorado River returned to its natural flow. Her favourite word was fuck! It was the first word she said to herself every morning.

She felt the flooding of the Canyon was a crime against nature. She was tired of seeing nature and the things she loved about it being eroded and destroyed. She was a Hollywood actress, Folk singer and activist. She learnt to drive from her Husband a racing driver. Smooth and fast driving was her skill using the gears not brakes. Few find a cause or set of values worth upholding over a lifetime. To be captivated so totally and completely by something is a rare talent.

To be so captivated and enthralled by something that is taken away from you must create an unusual rage. That can fuel a life time of fighting for a cause however impossible that cause is. To have a dam knocked down is a tall order. But like the micro to macro: she predicted an ecological movement which is in the fight to prevent the planet from human attack. She gave a new generation a role model to be active and resilient in an age where consumerism is still winning the fight. At the Moment!
Katie Lee

Copyright Adrian Scott North London Counsellor Blog 2017 All rights reserved Disclaimer: This weblog is the view of the writer and for general information only This article is designed to provoke argument and critique

A traveller asks a man sitting on the side of the the road “Which is the way to Jerusalem?” The man replies “Jerusalem?” Not understanding what he says. The traveller asks the same question again with the same result. This is repeated several times when suddenly the man on the side of the road exclaims “Aaah Jerusalem!” and shows him the way.

A UK politician makes a joke referring to a sexual predator who is all over the news. There is an outcry as it seen as trivialising sexual assault. Anger, disbelief, resignation, and despair are expressed. Politician Mysogyny.

Taken at face value the politician is being crass and insensitive in an attempt to be funny. Is there a lack of empathy with women where men have power over them? When are men in a similar situation? Boys will be boys? A lot of politicians are educated in single sex schools creating a warped immature experience of women. Objectifying them.

Is it deep in the male psyche that men have to hunt women? To own them, like cattle or territory? It appears that Mysogyny is deep seated and unconscious. Popping out in banter and humour.At the heart of Msyogyny is a wound of hurt and pain. Men’s hatred of women comes from a deep hurt and insecurity. Men have always felt threatened by women, their power of birth, their connection to emotions and a gentler testosterone free sensibility.

Like the traveller to Jerusalem our stories of pain need to be repeated and repeated to be understood. The story needs to be told and retold for a deeper understanding of meaning. What happened to us and how did we get here? What happened to men and how did men get here? Politician Mysogyny.

Copyright Adrian Scott North London Counsellor Blog 2017 All rights reserved Disclaimer: This weblog is the view of the writer and for general information only This article is designed to provoke argument and critique

The power between parents and children has always been a delicate balance. Children in the early part of their lives are totally dependent on their parents. The way this power is handled by the all powerful parent instils attitudes to power and authority in their children for the future.Bully Kids.

Now in the present the power shifts between men and women have changed. Making relationships and the children from those relationships more equal and complex. Women can have kids despite men: not controlled or bullied by them.

In some families one or other parent is not present leaving the role open for children to fill. In some families the children outnumber the parents, so there becomes an inverse us (kids) and them (the parents) dynamic.

Parents can feel very guilty if there is an illness, trauma or breakdown of the parental relationship. This can allow the children to develop more colleague like relationships with their parents where boundaries are more challenging to set.

Parents may feel anxious about their children – not believing or trusting them. This can create frustration and anger for the kids who are trying to independently make their own way in the world. Parents can get into the habit of trying to fix everything for their children. Unintentionally taking away their autonomy and learning to make their own mistakes.

These traits can also be in the kids. Anxiety in children can cause a bullying behaviour. They want to hold onto the parent and reject them at the same time. This process is normal but can be fuelled by an insecure attachment. Self reliance becomes difficult so the kids feel they cannot leave home. Motivated particularly in the UK by a housing market beyond the reach of young people in their first jobs. Insecure parents can be open to being coerced into doing things by tantrums and manipulation. If the parent is afraid of the kids’ anger the kid will learn how to use this to their advantage.

Parents still hold an authority of age, experience, and some wisdom. If this is not demonstrated to children parents become children, and children parents. Bully Kids

Copyright Adrian Scott North London Counsellor Blog 2017 All rights reserved Disclaimer: This weblog is the view of the writer and for general information only This article is designed to provoke argument and critique

Is there a multitude of quiet men silencing their views on the alleged behaviour of Harvey Weinstein? Is it because most men think that they have never behaved like that? That men they know wouldn’t speak about women as sex objects? That some men had genuinely feminist role models growing up as kids? That men’s girlfriend peer group insisted on respect and behaviour that included equality, and openness? That men would challenge other men who spoke about women in a derogatory way?
Quiet men.

Perhaps men would all agree with the all the statements except challenging other men on their behaviour towards women. Like challenging racist behaviour it is very difficult to do.

There is an argument that being part of a racist culture that if you are perceived to be privileged or mainstream in that culture you have to be racist. That if you have gained from the culture for no other reason then being part of that culture. The problem is that most white people would not think we lived in a racist country in the UK. In one belief the whole argument falls down. The same of sexism. In a patriarchy if you believe in patriarchy and benefit from it? Does that mean you are automatically sexist for benefiting from that patriarchy?

Humans including men have consistently abused their power to do or get what they want. It seems it is inevitable that power corrupts. It is part of human nature to suit yourself, and to try and have outcomes that get you what you want.

It is hard for men if they do feel that they are sexist to be vulnerable and open about it. Men are untrained in the art of feelings, and being at a disadvantage. To be unmanly leaves men without a reason for being a man.
And with no way talking or understanding the way out of this old age dilemma.
Quiet Men

Copyright Adrian Scott North London Counsellor Blog 2017 All rights reserved Disclaimer: This weblog is the view of the writer and for general information only This article is designed to provoke argument and critique